Puzzle Cache with only one find in 9 months -

4.2k · July 13, 2010

Hello, my name is Castle Mischief (hello, Castle Mischief) and I have a puzzle cache that has had only one finder in about nine months:

EYE DEE MEE GC1K291

Published 10/15/09. One finder on 10/16/09. Zero DNF logs.

I'm starting to have my doubts about this one. Was it too obtuse? Was the location all wrong? Did I pick the wrong font...?

Any thoughts as to how I could make this a more active cache (sans "archive and replace with a traditional cache") or any constructive comments are greatly welcome.

Is this just to be expected in the life of a puzzle cache?

(...and I just noticed that I left the "r" off of "your" in the title. Crud.)

Edited July 13, 2010 by Castle Mischief

2.3k · July 13, 2010

It "looks" fairly straight forward. My guess is that some may be filtering the higher difficulty and others may not be into aircraft so much.

July 13, 2010

Hello Castle Mischief,

Around these parts (Cleveland, Oh area) there are a few tough puzzles with just a few finds so far. They do tend to attract the same folks so there are usually about 15 or so watching them to see the latest developments and if any additional clues are added. I see there is only one person watching yours, so maybe puzzles aren't too popular in your area. Based on the finders comments it seems like cool puzzle and nice cache. Good luck.

6k · July 13, 2010

If that puzzle were published here there are a few people who would be all over it (i wouldn't be one of them just not a puzzle fan). I meet up with a couple at Starbucks every month or two on a Sunday morning and while me and the hubby chat the wifey has stuff spread out all over the table working on puzzles. Great relationship, she does the work and he gets the find.

I think mac367 is probably right, if you don't have a community of puzzle lovers these can go without attention for long periods at a time. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it. And after the initial flurry (which you didn't even get) they go unfound for very long periods.

July 13, 2010

it is alabama....

forrest can't get to all the caches.

1.1k · July 13, 2010

GB make a good point. I see you offered twice to lend a hand if need be, that is pretty accommodating so the difficulty should not detour cachers. Looks fine to me.

2.3k · July 13, 2010

What's sad is he's so close to Huntsville and it's only got one find.

I've got them all but 3 so far. Any pilots should have no problem with this.

2.2k · July 13, 2010

I think that I could solve this one, like others have said, is it possible that puzzles aren't very popular in your area? It really looks like a nice puzzle, and the person that found it gave you a really nice log, so it doesn't seem like there's a problem with it.

July 13, 2010

I'd tackle it reluctantly. Unless I misunderstood the premise (check: E=15 ?), this looks like a looong internet research job.

6.7k · July 13, 2010

Just guessing without trying out my theory of what the key to the solution is it looks pretty straight-forward.

You may have noticed in our local geocaching forum (http://www.DixieCachers.com) that this is fairly common... June13, DrFred and Frodo13 regularly post asking why their puzzles aren't found more often and on some even offer clues and help.

Of course Frodo13's are mostly impossible (SpiderFish, anyone? ) but I think it's mostly that for whatever reason most of us simply skip puzzles.

I for one do, they make my brain hurt!

However, there IS a group of cachers who like puzzles, so I see nothing wrong with leaving a puzzle active even if it gets very few finds (so long as the puzzle is actually workable and doesn't contain mistakes in logic).

The few folks who do find it will be proud of their ability / willingness to find what others can't or won't.

My regular cache Gone Campin' at my lake property only gets one or two hits per year; that's okay, those who find it say they enjoy it.

Edited July 13, 2010 by TheAlabamaRambler

6.1k · July 13, 2010

It's because of Groundspeak's failure to have a Puzzle Querie option to allow downloads of all final coordinates for puzzle caches.

1.2k · July 13, 2010

When I look at a puzzle if the solution, or method for solution is not apparent right way, I will put it on the back burner. I wait for a brainstorm. If that doesn't come it may be awhile before I get time to sit down and really tackle it.

Your puzzle is one that would sit on the back burner. I have no idea what to do (until I saw a comment here). I love puzzles because I learn a lot, it just may be awhile before I do it.

2.1k · July 13, 2010

I live a ways away, but I'll probably solve it at some point, might take me a year or so (or longer) to get to the cache.

I like it- looks like a fun one.

3.4k · July 13, 2010

Looks like a fun puzzle, I'd happily go after.

Your issue is you simply don't have enough puzzle fiends in your neck of the woods.

Don't give up!

Try a few additional puzzles, which are less challenging and you might be able to cultivate more.

4.2k · July 13, 2010

I actually have a second puzzle cache that I put out at the same time as this one:

Get Shorty GC1JW8T

It's getting more finds but is a bit more straight forward.

14k · July 13, 2010

It "looks" fairly straight forward. My guess is that some may be filtering the higher difficulty and others may not be into aircraft so much.

I don't think the topic matters that much. It could be photos of animal tracks, trees, or knitting stitches and those that like to solve puzzles would do the research necessary to identify the photos.

I'm also guessing that the difficulty rating may be scaring some off. If the one person that did solve it, only spent an hour on it, it's probably overrated for difficult. I don't use that particular coordinate checker but I know that some of them (geocheck.org, for example) will tell you how many attempts have been made to verify the coordinates, and how many were right/wrong. I've got a puzzle which requires solving for six digits, and although the method for solving each digit is the same, some of them are a little harder to figure out. With the geocheck.org coordinate checker I can tell which pieces of the puzzle people are struggling with.

4.2k · July 13, 2010

What's sad is he's so close to Huntsville and it's only got one find.

I've got them all but 3 so far. Any pilots should have no problem with this.

I'd have to check the mileage, and it may be closer on the map but it "feels" closer to (the greater area of) Birmingham. Once you're south of Cullman, it all pretty much feels like Birmingham to me.

1.2k · July 13, 2010

My .02 worth...this actually looks like an easy one, but I'm a military airplane geek. Might have to spend several minutes double-checking a couple of 'em, but I know how to do that and it wouldn't be a problem. One observation though, the math might appear daunting to someone doing a quick review over a cellphone, even though it is only My Dear Aunt Sally-level math. IMHO, I think the D-rating is too high and that might be scaring people off, as some puzzles rated 4+ require a great deal more effort to solve. There's a couple of puzzles rated 4.0 around here that I can't even decide what the puzzle is, let alone what the clue to deciphering it may be.

Cool cache, though!

4.2k · July 13, 2010

It "looks" fairly straight forward. My guess is that some may be filtering the higher difficulty and others may not be into aircraft so much.

I don't think the topic matters that much. It could be photos of animal tracks, trees, or knitting stitches and those that like to solve puzzles would do the research necessary to identify the photos.

I'm also guessing that the difficulty rating may be scaring some off. If the one person that did solve it, only spent an hour on it, it's probably overrated for difficult. I don't use that particular coordinate checker but I know that some of them (geocheck.org, for example) will tell you how many attempts have been made to verify the coordinates, and how many were right/wrong. I've got a puzzle which requires solving for six digits, and although the method for solving each digit is the same, some of them are a little harder to figure out. With the geocheck.org coordinate checker I can tell which pieces of the puzzle people are struggling with.

I actually bumped the difficulity up a half star about two months ago. I'll have to see if I can get that info from the checker that I'm using (or change checkers).

4.2k · July 13, 2010

My .02 worth...this actually looks like an easy one, but I'm a military airplane geek. Might have to spend several minutes double-checking a couple of 'em, but I know how to do that and it wouldn't be a problem. One observation though, the math might appear daunting to someone doing a quick review over a cellphone, even though it is only My Dear Aunt Sally-level math. IMHO, I think the D-rating is too high and that might be scaring people off, as some puzzles rated 4+ require a great deal more effort to solve. There's a couple of puzzles rated 4.0 around here that I can't even decide what the puzzle is, let alone what the clue to deciphering it may be.

Cool cache, though!

Let me know if you get "N".

You have a point. My assumption was that puzzle nuts won't be trying to figure out puzzles while scannig through them on their cellphone- but I see your point.

July 13, 2010

Your aircraft silhouette puzzle looks fairly easy. I like it and would have logged it quickly if I lived in the area.

4.2k · July 13, 2010

It's because of Groundspeak's failure to have a Puzzle Querie option to allow downloads of all final coordinates for puzzle caches.

what would the point of that be, or is this an attempt to be funny?

8.3k · July 13, 2010

My .02 worth...this actually looks like an easy one, but I'm a military airplane geek. Might have to spend several minutes double-checking a couple of 'em, but I know how to do that and it wouldn't be a problem. One observation though, the math might appear daunting to someone doing a quick review over a cellphone, even though it is only My Dear Aunt Sally-level math. IMHO, I think the D-rating is too high and that might be scaring people off, as some puzzles rated 4+ require a great deal more effort to solve. There's a couple of puzzles rated 4.0 around here that I can't even decide what the puzzle is, let alone what the clue to deciphering it may be.

Cool cache, though!

Let me know if you get "N".

You have a point. My assumption was that puzzle nuts won't be trying to figure out puzzles while scannig through them on their cellphone- but I see your point.

And I suspect that a fair number of folks just don't recognize the aircraft or don't know the designations. Which means google searches would have to be by picture, which does present a barrier or two. After a quick scan I probably would have to work a bit for three or four of them. And a lot of people use the search parameters of ? -> bit bucket. So although it certainly does not appear to be overly difficult it is somewhat esoteric. This probably contributes to the low find count.

2.3k · July 13, 2010

What's sad is he's so close to Huntsville and it's only got one find.

I've got them all but 3 so far. Any pilots should have no problem with this.

I'd have to check the mileage, and it may be closer on the map but it "feels" closer to (the greater area of) Birmingham. Once you're south of Cullman, it all pretty much feels like Birmingham to me.

It is closer to Birmingham, but my point is that being a Aerospace town, Huntsville should have at least a few people who would be very interested and able to solve that puzzle.

2.3k · July 13, 2010

My .02 worth...this actually looks like an easy one, but I'm a military airplane geek. Might have to spend several minutes double-checking a couple of 'em, but I know how to do that and it wouldn't be a problem. One observation though, the math might appear daunting to someone doing a quick review over a cellphone, even though it is only My Dear Aunt Sally-level math. IMHO, I think the D-rating is too high and that might be scaring people off, as some puzzles rated 4+ require a great deal more effort to solve. There's a couple of puzzles rated 4.0 around here that I can't even decide what the puzzle is, let alone what the clue to deciphering it may be.

Cool cache, though!

The difficulty rating is a bit too high. In less than an hour I had all but 2 of them. (all but 3 in less than 20 minutes).

Given up on the other 2 for now. But I will find them because we drive up to Nashville every year and I might just swing by and grab this one.

4.2k · July 13, 2010

It is closer to Birmingham, but my point is that being a Aerospace town, Huntsville should have at least a few people who would be very interested and able to solve that puzzle.

Gotcha. Actually this was partly inspired by my job (in Huntsville). We build thingys* that go in a handful of the aircraft on the cache page. The container has work-related swag in it.

*Boxes. I don't know what they do. I'm not an engineer. Nothing top secret. I think they might flush the on-board toilet.

4.2k · July 13, 2010

My .02 worth...this actually looks like an easy one, but I'm a military airplane geek. Might have to spend several minutes double-checking a couple of 'em, but I know how to do that and it wouldn't be a problem. One observation though, the math might appear daunting to someone doing a quick review over a cellphone, even though it is only My Dear Aunt Sally-level math. IMHO, I think the D-rating is too high and that might be scaring people off, as some puzzles rated 4+ require a great deal more effort to solve. There's a couple of puzzles rated 4.0 around here that I can't even decide what the puzzle is, let alone what the clue to deciphering it may be.

Cool cache, though!

The difficulty rating is a bit too high. In less than an hour I had all but 2 of them. (all but 3 in less than 20 minutes).

Given up on the other 2 for now. But I will find them because we drive up to Nashville every year and I might just swing by and grab this one.

It's "N" isn't it? Let me know if you need some helping hints.

4.2k · July 13, 2010

Based on the response, I've bumped it down a half-star.

6.1k · July 13, 2010

It's because of Groundspeak's failure to have a Puzzle Querie option to allow downloads of all final coordinates for puzzle caches.

what would the point of that be, or is this an attempt to be funny?

It's the only way I could figure out how to blame Groundspeak on it.

Actually, the tendency is to not read cache pages anyway, and even simple puzzles are ignored.

2.3k · July 13, 2010

My .02 worth...this actually looks like an easy one, but I'm a military airplane geek. Might have to spend several minutes double-checking a couple of 'em, but I know how to do that and it wouldn't be a problem. One observation though, the math might appear daunting to someone doing a quick review over a cellphone, even though it is only My Dear Aunt Sally-level math. IMHO, I think the D-rating is too high and that might be scaring people off, as some puzzles rated 4+ require a great deal more effort to solve. There's a couple of puzzles rated 4.0 around here that I can't even decide what the puzzle is, let alone what the clue to deciphering it may be.

Cool cache, though!

The difficulty rating is a bit too high. In less than an hour I had all but 2 of them. (all but 3 in less than 20 minutes).

Given up on the other 2 for now. But I will find them because we drive up to Nashville every year and I might just swing by and grab this one.

It's "N" isn't it? Let me know if you need some helping hints.

I PM'd you my answers thus far. Don't want a hint. Just giving you an idea of which ones I found difficult.

*** edited to add that it wasn't N.

Edited July 13, 2010 by GeoBain

4.2k · July 13, 2010

I PM'd you my answers thus far. Don't want a hint. Just giving you an idea of which ones I found difficult.

*** edited to add that it wasn't N.

Oops, in that case, don't read my PM reply!!!

1.2k · July 13, 2010

It's "N" isn't it? Let me know if you need some helping hints.

I'll admit it, Yes...N's got me.

July 13, 2010

I recognized all but three of them by sight (K,N and O). A little research gives me a likely O and a second possibility. I haven't tried yet on K (mainly because I stupidly wasn't looking for it while I researched O). I have no idea whatsoever what N is and am at a lost to even start researching it. Check that, just had an idea.

Time expended so far: 20 minutes.

If I was anywhere near this, it would be on my list to finish.

9.3k · July 13, 2010

Based on the response, I've bumped it down a half-star.

What is the PHW ratio for your area?

If you have gobs of PHWs, and this one is still not being found on a regular basis, maybe your original D/T was accurate.

PHW = Puzzle Head Weenie (a term of endearment)

July 13, 2010

It is actually quite straightforward and I agree that the difficulty should not be that high.

Being a "puzzle guy" and in the area, I'll have to head up and log it soon. Many people in our area were driven off by frodo13 and just don't solve puzzles anymore - they just filter them out and don't even try them. This one just fell outside of my usual radius and I didn't see it. I don't get up north of Hayden much these days.

If you want to generate puzzle traffic in AL, post a note to dixiecachers.com - most of the cachers in AL don't come on these forums.

Not to give the answer but try 44-80...

July 13, 2010

I haven't looked at it before this post. Then again, I haven't been caching in that part of the state in a while and usually work on the puzzles in the area to which I am heading.

7.9k · July 14, 2010

Hello, my name is Castle Mischief (hello, Castle Mischief) and I have a puzzle cache that has had only one finder in about nine months:

EYE DEE MEE GC1K291

Published 10/15/09. One finder on 10/16/09. Zero DNF logs.

I'm starting to have my doubts about this one. Was it too obtuse? Was the location all wrong? Did I pick the wrong font...?

Any thoughts as to how I could make this a more active cache (sans "archive and replace with a traditional cache") or any constructive comments are greatly welcome.

Is this just to be expected in the life of a puzzle cache?

(...and I just noticed that I left the "r" off of "your" in the title. Crud.)

Don't sweat it...this is what puzzles are all about, eh?

If you want a cache with a find every three days, hide one under a lampskirt at the Wallmart.

3.3k · July 14, 2010

Without trying to solve the puzzle I think I have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done. Seems like a straightforward puzzle and I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe you need to attend some local events and chide the attendees for not going after it. :laughing:

7.3k · July 14, 2010

Hello, my name is Castle Mischief (hello, Castle Mischief) and I have a puzzle cache that has had only one finder in about nine months:

EYE DEE MEE GC1K291

That's the kind of puzzle I like. We are working on it now, in fact. :laughing:

Not sure when we might ever be in Alabama to actually search for the final coords, but it's a neat puzzle, so thanks for creating it.

It's obvious what is needed to solve it. The puzzles that I read and have no clue how to even start solving are the ones that I leave off the to-do list.

And I really appreciate the geochecker being included. Not sure why so many puzzle cache owners don't include it.

Not sure if we'll crack it, but if we do....do you mind people posting notes on the cache page to say that we've solved the puzzle?

14k · July 14, 2010

Not sure if we'll crack it, but if we do....do you mind people posting notes on the cache page to say that we've solved the puzzle?

As both a puzzle cache owner and a puzzle cache solver I appreciate it when people do this. Solving the puzzle is part of the cache history and as a cache owner it's nice to see that others have solved it. As a solver, seeing that someone else has solved a really difficult puzzle tells others that it *is* solvable. Be prepared to receive

"I see that you solved Eye Dee Mee. Can you give me help" email messages. I solved a 5 star difficulty puzzle a couple of years ago and still get "I see that you're working on this puzzle...can you help me?" email. I just got another one yesterday.

July 14, 2010

Great puzzle! All but three of them were immediately apparent to this airplane dork. (I think K is a Sukhoi, but it could be one of a couple of models, or a MiG -- that wouldn't take too long); N - I have no idea. With O, I'm enough of a dork as to be confused as to whether that's an F-5, a T-38, or the F-20 Tigershark.

July 14, 2010

I am a puzzle fan, I quickly scrolled down, saw "Birmingham" and thought "What? Where's this unfound puzzle??" Then I realised it's the wrong Birmingham, it's a few thousand miles too far west for me. :laughing:

1.9k · July 14, 2010

Hello, my name is Castle Mischief (hello, Castle Mischief) and I have a puzzle cache that has had only one finder in about nine months:

EYE DEE MEE GC1K291

Published 10/15/09. One finder on 10/16/09. Zero DNF logs.

I'm starting to have my doubts about this one. Was it too obtuse? Was the location all wrong? Did I pick the wrong font...?

Any thoughts as to how I could make this a more active cache (sans "archive and replace with a traditional cache") or any constructive comments are greatly welcome.

Is this just to be expected in the life of a puzzle cache?

(...and I just noticed that I left the "r" off of "your" in the title. Crud.)

I don't see a geochecker. a lot of people won't bother on puzzles without one. evince is a good one.

July 14, 2010

I don't see a geochecker. a lot of people won't bother on puzzles without one. evince is a good one.

It's there.

I think Clan Riffster hit the nail on the head about the PHW ratio. There just might not be a lot of PHWs in your area. I will say that as a PHW I don't typically even look at the difficulty rating.

I know nothing about aircraft but had a good time solving this puzzle. If I'm ever in the area .... :laughing:

2.1k · July 14, 2010

Wish I lived somewhere nearby. Seems fairly easy/straightforward to me. I'll have to add it to my Puzzles database just so I have it in case I ever find myself in AL.

2.8k · July 14, 2010

The difficulty rating is a bit too high. In less than an hour I had all but 2 of them. (all but 3 in less than 20 minutes).

Given up on the other 2 for now. But I will find them because we drive up to Nashville every year and I might just swing by and grab this one.

I'm with you - 2 left (probably the same two!). About half required no research, the others to make I had them right. A little more effort and I'll have them all.

4.2k · July 14, 2010

Not sure if we'll crack it, but if we do....do you mind people posting notes on the cache page to say that we've solved the puzzle?

Doesn't bother me one bit.

4.2k · July 14, 2010

I don't see a geochecker. a lot of people won't bother on puzzles without one. evince is a good one.

It's there. At the bottom.

2.3k · July 14, 2010

Not sure if we'll crack it, but if we do....do you mind people posting notes on the cache page to say that we've solved the puzzle?

I hope not.

6.7k · July 14, 2010

Not sure if we'll crack it, but if we do....do you mind people posting notes on the cache page to say that we've solved the puzzle?

I hope not.

Just as long as you PM me your solution so I can, you know, verify it!

Puzzle Cache with only one find in 9 months -

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